Key-fastener



-(No Model.)

Ji. FORD. KEY FASTENBR.

- No. 450,407. Patented Apr.14, 1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT EEIIcE.

JEREMIAH FORD, OF QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS.

KEY-FASTEN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 450,407, dated April 14, 1891.

Application iiled April 24, 1890. Serial No. 349,307. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern.- v

Be it known that I, JEEEMIAH FORD, of Quincy, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Key and Key-Hole Guards, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has reference to devices designed to guard the key-holes of locks, so that the keys employed in the locks may be protected againstoperation by house-breakers.

It is the purpose of my invention to provide a key-hole guard which shall be independent of the lock and at the same time be readily attachable to a door provided with a key-lock of any kind and which shall by very simple means close the key-hole and securely lock the key against being turned from the outside of the door.

The invention will first be described in connection with the annexed drawings and letters of reference marked thereon, forming a part of this speciiication, and then be pointed out in the appended claim.

Of the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a portion of a door provided With a lock and having my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a front View of my improvement. Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a view of the reverse side of the attachment as shown in Fig. 2, a part being 'represented as broken away. Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a sectional View on the line 6 6 ofV Fig. 2.

The same letters indicate the same parts or features, as the case may be, in all of the views.

In the drawings, o designates a door provided with a lock b of any suitable character.

c designates the casing of my attachment, provided with a hole d, through which a key may be passed into the key-hole and lock of the door. The casing c is also provided with a slide e, having a notch f of suitable form and size to engage the shank of the key and hold the same against turning. A spring gis arranged between the rear end of the slide e and the casing, so as to press the said slide forward over the key-hole d.

h indicates a thumb-screw, the shank of which passes through a slot t' in the casing and is tapped into the slide, as is shown in Figs. 5 and 6. This thumb -screw affords means whereby the slide e may be pressed back against the stress of the spring g and be locked in said position, as shown in Figs. 2 and 6, or be locked against movement when in its forward position, as is shown in Fig. 4.

The improved attachment may be applied to a door by cutting away a portion of the same, so as to allow the part j of the casing containing the slide and spring to be set therein in position to bring the key-hole d over the key-hole in the door and lock, when the attachment may be secured in place by screws passed through the holes 7c of the plate Z. Vhere it is desired to avoid multilating` the door, the thumb-screw h may be removed from place, as shown in Fig. 2, and screwed into the slide from the opposite side, as is shown in Fig. 4, in which case the plate Z may be attached to the door without cutting away any .part of the latter, as shown in Fig. 5.

In operation the slide may be drawn back and the key turned so as to lock the door, when the slide may be released and the spring allowed to force it forward, so that the notch f will engage the shank of the key and hold it from being turned in the lock.

The slide may be locked in forward or backward position by means of the thumb-screw, which can be turned up, so as to hold the slide against movement in the casing. It is to be noted that my invention is independent of the lock and may be applied to any door on the outside or inside of the same and whether the lock is of right or left hand form. v

The invention is also economical of construction and thoroughly efficient as a vkey and key-hole guard.

It is to be observed that it would not be a departure from the nature or spirit of my improvement to cast or form the casing of a single integral part, nor to change the form and arrangement of other parts of the device.

Having thus explained the nature of my improvement and described a way of constructing and using the same, I declare that what I claim is- A keyand key-hole guard consisting of a IOO easing provided with an aperture for the adl mission of a key and a slot t', a slide e, having a notchf, a spring g, "bearing against the rear end of the said slide and holding the same normally pressed into engagement With the key, and a thumb-screw it, `connected to the slide and extending through the said slot L'. as set forth.

In testimony whereof have signed `my name to this specification, in the presence of Io two subscribing witnesses, this 19th day of April, A. D. 1890.

JEREMIAH FORD.

i/Vitnesses:

ARTHUR W. CROSSLEY, i A. D. HARRISON. 

